17 missing after fishing boat, cargo vessel collide off West Java, Indonesia

JAKARTA/HANGZHOU (AFP, XINHUA) - Rescuers were searching for 17 missing fishermen after two boats collided in waters off Indonesia's West Java province, officials said on Sunday (April 4).

A fishing ship hit a larger cargo vessel on Saturday evening off Indramayu regency, flipping the wooden boat's 32 crew members into the water, said Bandung rescue agency spokesman Seni Wulandari.

"Some 15 survivors have been evacuated to the cargo vessel but the team is still searching for 17 other crew who went missing," Ms Wulandari told Agence France-Presse on Sunday.

Those rescued sustained minor injuries from the accident and would be taken to a nearby hospital, she added.

The Habco Pioneer cargo vessel was sailing through the port of Merak from the Indonesian island of Borneo when it was hit by a local fishing boat in Indramayu waters, said Ms Wulandari.

Boat accidents are common in Indonesia, a South-east Asian archipelago of around 17,000 islands, due to lax safety standards.

In January last year, 10 people went missing after a boat carrying 20 migrant workers to neighbouring Malaysia capsized off the coast of Sumatra island.

Separately in China, 16 people have been saved and several are still missing after a fishing boat sank in east China's Zhejiang Province on Sunday morning, the provincial maritime search and rescue centre said.

The centre received a report at 4.28am local time on Sunday that the boat registered in neighbouring Jiangsu Province with approximately 20 crew members aboard, capsized about 100 nautical miles east of Zhujiajian, the Port of Ningbo Zhoushan, Zhejiang.

Rescue vessels and helicopters from maritime search teams and nearby fishing boats have joined the rescue operation, local authorities said.

As of 9am on Sunday, 16 crew members were rescued, with 12 of them showing weak vital signs.

The search work is still underway as several people remain missing.